


Who's a good boy?

by ShadowOfTheNight



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dogs, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Science, Team Free Love, Unbeta'd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-25
Updated: 2013-09-25
Packaged: 2017-12-27 13:44:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/979618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowOfTheNight/pseuds/ShadowOfTheNight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Team Free Love gets a dog, featuring actual science and what goes on at a vet clinic!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who's a good boy?

**Author's Note:**

> In which I am a nerd and show off things I learned while working in a clinic.

Dean curled his fingers around the steering wheel of his baby and relaxed into the creaking leather seats.  This was one of his few guilty pleasures.  Just him and baby, on the road again.  He knew they really couldn’t afford to waste the gas, but driving for the sake of driving… well, he missed that.  He had been so long on the road to job after job that he had almost forgotten what it felt like to ride with no destination in mind.

 

Of course, going job to job was a bit different for him now.  Where there had just been him and Sammy and sometimes Cas there was a sometimes annoying Trickster along for the ride now too.  Gabriel had barreled back into their lives with no warning and Dean found that he was grateful for the little intrusion.  Gabriel broke up the domesticity he’d discovered with Cas and Sam with work, goofy sex, and little prank wars every now and then.

 

Though it was domestic in its own little way as well.

 

Dean almost drove on past a wet, furry lump on the side of the road when his curiosity (and heart, Sam would later tease him about) got the better of him.  He turned the Impala around and stopped on the opposite side of the road.  Witch cautious movements he got out of the car and shuffled closer to the grey, shaggy dog that huddled on the shoulder.

 

“Hey, mutt,” he crouched down and held his hand out, “Hey, I won’t hurt you.”

 

The dog, crouched low on his belly, shuffled closer.

 

“That’s it, hey good boy,” Dean would later deny crooning at the thing.

 

The dog finally shuffled close enough to lick his hand and let out a low whine.  Dean carefully ran his hand down the animal’s flank and winced when he felt how skinny the beast was.  “Alright, I’m going to take you home with me.  Feed you, get you better and then find you a family, alright?  I think Charlie said something about wanting a dog.”

 

When the dog didn’t react, Dean grabbed him around the middle and carefully set him in the passenger seat and headed for home.

 

When he arrived he hauled the dog inside and into the kitchen.  He blinked.  “Guys?” he called out, “Where are you?”

 

A thump from upstairs and muffled giggles.  “Oh come on!” he groused, stomping his way over to the foot of the staircase, “Is this what you guys do while I’m gone with Baby?  That’s not fair!”

 

Gabriel’s laugh floated down the stairs to him, “Well, if you weren’t so enamored with that machine…”

 

Dean snorted, “Don’t even go there, you know how I feel.”

 

“Then come on up!” Sam’s voice was a bit strained.

 

“Can’t.  I uh, found something.  You guys should get dressed and get down here.”

 

The silence almost worried him until there was a flutter and Cas, Sam, and Gabriel stood beside him.  “Monster?”  Cas asked quietly.

 

“No uh.  Just a dog,” Dean rubbed the back of his neck.  “He’s in the kitchen.  Looks and feels pretty bad, I wanted to get him fed and looked at.  Thought maybe Charlie would want him.”

 

Cas’s eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline from surprise.  “You let a dog into the car?”

 

“Well, yeah,” the hunter defended himself, “I couldn’t just leave him there.”

 

His three lovers exchanged a look.  “Alright, well let’s go see this pooch.” Gabriel snapped a candy bar into existence and nibbled on it, leading the way into the kitchen.

 

Sam knelt and ran his hands over the shaggy mutt, “He just seems really thin.  I can’t feel anything broken.  Think we should call the vet?”

 

Dean nodded, “If nothing else then to get him his shots. “

 

“And to see if anyone has reported him missing,” Cas also knelt next to the dog and gave the animal a few soft pats.  “He seems quite well adjusted for a stray.” 

 

Dean reluctantly nodded and pulled his phone from his jeans pocket and looked up the number for the local vet.  Score one for smart phones; he tapped the number on his screen. 

 

“Hi, this is Dereck for Plaza Animal Hospital, how can I help you?”

 

“Uh, hi.  Right.  I found a dog on the side of the road and was wondering if you had any openings today to get him looked at?”

 

“Ok.  Give me just a moment sir to look through our schedule.”  The man on the phone paused and Dean could hear a few clicks in the background.  “You’re in luck; it seems our yearly for one o’clock canceled.  If you can get here soon we’ll be able to fit him in.”

 

“Good, yeah.  Put him down for that, thanks.”

 

“Not a problem, sir.  And who is going to be bringing the dog?”

 

“Me, uh.  Dean Winchester.”

 

“Alright Mr. Winchester, I’ve got you down, we’ll see you soon.”

 

“Yeah, thanks.  Bye.”  He shut the call down with a soft beep and turned to the others.  “Alright, let’s go.  There’s a half hour before the appointment and I’m sure there will be a dozen different forms to sign.”

 

Dean was wrong about that, there was only one to fill out when they arrived and it didn’t take very long for the technician in muted green scrubs to weigh him and bring the four of them into the small exam room.  She noted his weight down in a chart, “Forty-five pounds, he’s definitely going to need to build that weight back on.”  She noted to them, “Okay, my name is Kary.” she smiled brightly at the four of them, “What can you tell me for the history of…” she peered down at the paper, “No name yet?”

 

Dean coughed uncomfortably, “No I uh.  I found him on the side of the road and we wanted to get him checked out.”

 

“Alright.  Well, since we have no history on him I need to run a Heartworm test on him, check his feces for parasites and do a quick physical exam.   Have the four of you heard of heartworms before?”

 

Gabriel and Cas both tilted their heads slightly to the side.  “No, we haven’t.  What are they?”  Cas asked softly.

 

“Well, heartworms are parasitic worms that live in the right side of the heart and in the arteries of the lungs.  It can be fatal if not treated or prevented.  Dogs of any age and breed can be susceptible to these infections.”

 

Sam’s eyes widen, “How to they get them?”

 

“The adult heartworms produce billions of babies called microfilaria.  These little ones are what we call larva stage one, or just L1.  Mosquitoes will come around and take up the L1 with a blood meal, and during the course of the next month or so the larvae grow from L1 into an L3.  This is when the mosquito will bite another dog or cat and inject the L3 into the new host.”  She reaches behind her for a jar, “The L3 then migrate through the host growing intil they reach the heart and become adults aand start producing their own offspring.  This is what it looks like.”

 

In the jar was a heart that had been dissected and the four men turned green at the worms leaking from it.  She set the jar down and grabbed a pamphlet.  “This can tell you more about prevention and treatment while I go get my partner.”  She opened the door and disappeared into the back.

 

Just a few moments later she came in with a young man who seemed quite nervous.  He had a shock of shaggy blond hair and his hands fluttered at his sides.  “This is Cole.  He’s an intern, in his last semester of Vet tech school.”

 

Cole waved a little, “It’s very nice to meet you, I’m going to be the one taking the fecal and drawing blood today.”

 

Den raised his eyebrows, “You guys ok with that?”

 

Cas looked at him, “He’ll never get any better without practice.  Let him go ahead.”

 

Cole visibly relaxed, “Hey, thanks, man.”  He grabbed a small wand with a loop at the end and stuck it in a small jar of Vaseline.  “Could you get him up on the table for me?”

 

Gabriel nodded and scooped the dog up and settled him on the metal table.

 

“Stronger than you look, thanks.”  Cole nodded at Kary who came around and wrapped one arm over the dog’s backside and curled the other up under his jaw, keeping her and firmly on his neck. 

 

“All the candy I eat,” Gabriel quipped and stepped back.

 

“I got him, go ahead.”

 

The dog barely jumped.

 

“Good boy!” Kary crooned at him as Cole removed the stick and placed the soiled end in an old medicine bottle. 

 

“Alright, now the hard part, the blood.”

 

Kary reached the arm holding the dog’s rump up to his right foreleg where she grabbed it just below the elbow and rolled her hand outward.

 

Cole grabbed the needle and syringe from where they lay on the counter and blinked, “Oh right.  Alcohol first.  Duh.”  He pocketed the syringe and then grabbed a bottle of alcohol that had a hole punched in the lid and liberally wet the dog’s foreleg.  He pulled the syringe from his pocket and uncapped it with one hand before holding the dog’s foreleg gently in his left hand and smoothly inserting the needle with his other.  With slightly shaky hands he pulled back on the plunger and pulled two CCs of blood.  “Alright, you can let go of the block now.”

 

Kary let go with her thumb and when the needle was removed she placed her thumb over the site of the stick.

 

With a huge sigh of relief, Cole twisted the needle off of the syringe and dropped it in the sharps container.  “Alright, we’re going to go run these tests, we’ll be right back.”  He helped Kary settle the dog to the floor and they both left.

 

Sam and Cas were peering at the pamphlet they’d been handed and so Dean and Gabriel sat on the floor, with the dog pulled into their laps.  After approximately ten minutes had passed, Kary came back into the room with a smile. 

 

“Good news,” she handed over a small white thing to Dean which had a single blue dot in a small viewing window.  “Just one dot means he’s negative for heartworms.  We’ll get him on a preventative and check him again in six months.  His fecal on the other hand, has a lot of roundworm eggs floating around in there, so we’ll need to dose him with Panacur and send some of that home with you so it can be administered over the next few days.  I’ll be right back with his shots and the deworming medication and then Dereck will take you at the front desk to pay.”

 

She disappeared through the door again and came back a few moments later with three syringes with needles and a large one filled with what looked like white paste.  “This is the Panacur,” she held up the paste, “Its an oral medication, will one of you hold his head for me please?”  When Dean put his hands on either side of the dog’s head she smiled in gratitude.  Taking the tip of the syringe she wormed it past the dog’s teeth near the rear part of his cheek.  As he slowly depressed the plunger the dog squirmed and whined a little before lapping at his mouth, trying to rid himself of the taste.  “There’s a good boy,” she murmured after she had finished.  “Now for the shots.”

 

Dean turned away and petted the dog absently as she poked the animal a few more times.  One went into the right rear leg, one into the left, and then another into the front left leg.  “What are they for?”

 

“One is his rabies shot, the second one is for distemper/parvo, and the last one is for bordetella or Kennel cough.”  She explained as she twisted the needles off and dropped them into the biohazard container.  “You guys are good back here, Dereck will get you at the front and if you have any other questions you can ask him, thanks for coming by to see us.” And she slipped out the door.

 

Dean held onto the dog while Sam stood at the counter asking all sorts of questions and paying for the treatment before they finally got to leave.

 

The car ride home was quiet until Dean cleared his throat, “What are we going to name him?”

 

He saw Gabriel shrug in the rearview mirror, “Why not pick something or someone that was close to you two?  Might be nice to remember them, right?”

 

Sam and Dean shared a look, “What about Bobby?”  Sam said softly.

 

Dean grinned at the furball nestled between them on the front seat.  “I like it.  Hey, Bobby.”

 

 


End file.
